Friday, December 31, 2010

My husband and I are heading off to New Orleans as we speak! We're excited to ring in the New Year with great friends and cheer on the Hogs as they beat Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl. This will be my first trip to the Big Easy and I absolutely cannot wait to eat beignets at Cafe du Monde, stroll through the French Quarter, listen to fabulous jazz, and experience all that New Orleans has to offer!

Finishing Touch will be on hiatus until January 6th. I will be back in the office on Thursday and will return calls & emails as soon as possible. Happy New Year to you all! I cannot wait to see what 2011 holds for us all!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

2010 has been our best year yet at Finishing Touch and we're so grateful to each and every couple we've worked with. You have made this year unbelievable! While each and every wedding we do is fantastic, there are several throughout the year that stand out for one reason or another. And as the year draws to an end, I love to look back on my favorite details and moments throughout 2010.

Lets start with the first wedding of 2010, Lauren & Ryan Davenport's Vintage European wedding on January 2nd. Their first look is still one of my favorites ever! {see below} It was so sweet and emotional and Eli Murray captured it perfectly!

Another of my favorite details of the year, also from Lauren & Ryan's wedding was the bouquet wrap on Lauren's bouquet {above}. We used raw silk and created a gorgeous ruffle detail that wrapped up into the blooms at the front. To finish the look, we attached a beautiful vintage cameo, a wedding gift from Ryan which they intend to use as an heirloom to pass down to their children some day. Such a sweet sentiment! All images from Lauren & Ryan's wedding were captured by Eli Murray Photography. For more of their wedding, check out our old blog posts here, here, and here.

Michelle & George Khamis were married in February in traditional Greek Orthodox ceremony. Their wedding was full of the best cultural elements! Fabulous Assyrian traditions woven into every aspect of the reception by George and his entire family. A belly dancer entertained the guests during dinner {top, below}, every 20 minutes or so the DJ would play a traditional Assyrian song and the guests would do a traditional dance, and throughout the evening guests threw money at the newlyweds as they danced. At the end of the night the bills were woven into sashes for the bride & groom to wear {bottom, below}.

Photos by Melody Hubbell Photography

For more from Michelle & George's wedding, check out their previous posts here, here, and here.

Ashley & John Rausch were married in the largest wedding we've done to date! 725 guests watched them take their vows in March at the Convention Center in downtown Fort Smith, Arkansas. Working with a warehouse type space presents challenges not faced with a traditional ballroom venue. Because of this challenge and the incredible results, their wedding is by far the best transformation of 2010!
Here, you can see the convention center before we began, and the ceremony space after we finished...

{Forgive the iPhone quality of the above images!}

Regardless of the transformation that we accomplished in the space, Ashley & John's candle lit ceremony space was the most beautiful we've created. It literally brought tears to Ashley's eyes when she entered, and still takes my breath away when I look at the images! Everything came together perfectly from the custom fireplace altar pieces, to the floor to ceiling drapery, the candle lit aisle, and the gorgeous lighting. It couldn't have been more perfect. What do you think?

Ashley & John made an incredible entrance into their reception. After the cocktail hour, guests awaited their arrival in the dinner space. The newly weds were introduced by the father of the bride, and as they entered the room fireworks erupted on either side of the door! That's how you make an entrance!

Ashley & John'sGet Away was equally as fabulous! As their vintage car drove away, fireworks lined the drive and exploded over head. Their guests were ecstatic at the display! I cannot wait to do this again in February!

For more from Ashley & John's fabulous wedding, check out our old blog posts here, here, and here.

Marion & Clark Donat were married in early April in a wedding full of the most amazing family heirlooms and traditions. Marion wore the same gown worn by her mother and grandmother and she wore it flawlessly! They exchanged rings that had belonged to each of their grand parents, and every little detail had meaning.

They also had such a fantastic party, that we had our first wedding crasher! {see above} He was loving the Memphis Soul Revue! As we were kicking the crasher out, Marion was laughing about it. It's wonderful to have a sense of humor about your wedding when you're in the moment. Enjoy it!
For more from Marion & Clark's wedding check out our old blog posts here, here, and here.

Tyler & Kevin Williams, who had been together since Junior High school, were married in May in their hometown of Greenwood, Arkansas. Melissa McCrotty did an amazing job on their wedding photos, and I especially loved their bridal party shots. Usually the posed pictures are my least favorite, but I'm crazy over the lighting, the juxtaposition of the bride & groom and their wedding party, and the fact that they're standing in the middle of the street. LOVE!

For more of Tyler & Kevin's wedding photos, check out their blog posts here, here, and here.

Molly & Colby, were married in June in McAlester, Oklahoma in my favorite Outdoor Ceremony of the year! At a beautiful home near the McAlester Country Club, we created the ceremony space using rows of white chairs, lanterns linen the aisle, and a fantastic rustic arbor draped with grapevine. From the arbor we hung mason jars of flowers to add a splash of color.

Sarah & Robert Stark were married in July in a sweet ceremony outside of Conway, Arkansas. In my favorite bridesmaid gift of the year, Sarah gave all of her girls vintage hankies which we tied with ribbon and a tag that said "for your tears of joy".

Photo by Bertiz Haile

For more from Sarah & Robert's wedding, check out their earlier blog posts here and here.

Casey & Andrew Shelor were married in a traditional wedding in August in Fort Smith, Arkansas. And for their reception, they had the most fantastic ceiling treatment of the year! The ceiling was draped with strands of white lights, and in the center we hung a beautiful crystal chandelier. When the lights were dimmed and the candles were lit, it made a huge impact!

I also adore this image of Casey & Andrew! It is my favorite get away shot of the year because it reminds me of a glamorous Hollywood couple waving to their fans. It's fantastic!

For more from Casey & Andrew's wedding check out our old blog posts here, here, and here.

Brooke & Rhett Gadke were married in Napa, California in a sweet, small ceremony on September 12th. With just their closest family & friends they threw a wonderful weekend that showcased Napa for all of their out of town guests. They had without a doubt my favorite rehearsal dinner! Their dinner was at Dim Sum Charlie's in downtown Napa. We dined at picnic tables under the stars, and enjoyed delicious Dim Sum dumplings and many more delicious dishes all served family style in bamboo baskets!

For more from Brooke & Rhett's wedding, check out our old blog posts here, here, here, and here.

Amber & Alan Nichols were married the weekend after Brooke & Rhett in a beautiful ceremony at their home church in Fayetteville. Erika Dotson captured my favorite image of a groom from 2010 with this picture of Alan with the groomsmen reflected in his glasses. Fantastic!

Alli & Ben Scott, a fantastic Boston couple, were married at Thorncrown Chapel in Eureka Springs on October 2nd. We had a ball planning this wedding, and although there were a few bumps along the way {Alli, you know what I'm talking about here!} things came together perfectly for the Rustic Chic wedding of their dreams! They had my favorite ceremony of the year, full of their own sweet vows and a tartan pinning ceremony that made it entirely their own. And the gorgeous venue didn't hurt either :)

Their wedding also had some of my favorite details including the custom seating arrangement display we created using old windows. Alli's bouquet was also my favorite of the year! I love the color, texture, and the variety. We also wrapped the stems using her family tartan which gave it that perfect personal touch.

Katie & Tripp Hollowell were married on October 16th in Rogers, Arkansas. There were a few things from their wedding that I'd love to see more. First, Tripp's best men. His father and grandfather were by his side on on the most important day of his life as his best men. It's great to see a family that close!

Katie & Tripp also had the best favor display of the year! Using an old door, Katie attached photos of all of their parents and grandparents on their wedding days. In front of the door, we lined up beautiful caramel apples with custom tags from Sincerely Yours Paper, Inc.

And last but certainly not least, Katie & Tripp had the best band of the year! They chose the KC Allstars to entertain their guests, and it was a wise decision. The dance floor was packed all night long and the guests couldn't get enough of the KC Allstars! No one was ready to leave this party at the end of the night.

Thank you to each and every one of our 2010 couples. We've loved every moment with you all and are so proud to have been able to be a part of your wedding day. Keep in touch and have a very happy New Year! We're looking forward to an amazing 2011! See you all then!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Congratulations! You're marrying your best friend. We're so excited for all of the newly engaged couples out there! What a wonderful Christmas gift. Now what?

Where do you start? Hire a great wedding designer to make all your dreams come true! Give us a call today for your free bridal consultation.We'd love to talk about your big day and be there every step of the way to make sure it is absolutely perfect!

We still have dates available in March & April. May and June are fully booked, but we have open dates left in the fall and winter of 2011.

Congratulations! We hope to meet you all soon. Happy New Year to each and every one of you!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Katie & Tripp had one of the most fun receptions I've had the pleasure of planning, thanks in large part to the band, the KC Allstars. I recommended them for this wedding without having worked with them yet and I am beyond glad that I did. They MADE this reception. The dance floor was packed from beginning to end and the guests were literally begging them to continue playing after the reception ended. Of everything that was complimented from their wedding, the band was by far #1.

In addition to the fabulous entertainment, the guests dined on delicious food and enjoyed a full bar all by the staff at Pinnacle Country Club. The service provided by the club was impeccable! Guests were greeted by a doorman opening the door for them, and met in the foyer with servers offering them trays of delicious hors d'oeuvres. They had access to three bars throughout the evening to ensure no one had to wait in line for long.

Now on to the photos!

As they made their grand entrance, Katie & Tripp went straight to the dance floor to do their first dance as husband and wife.

They danced to Al Green's Let's Stay Together {also my first dance song with my husband, so of course I loved it!}

They chose to do a "family dance" during which Katie danced with her dad and Tripp danced with his mom at the same time rather than drawing it out into 2 separate dances.

I recommend this, because it keeps it short and lets the party get started quicker!

A little cake cutting...
Then the band really cranked it up...
And the dance floor was packed ALL night long with Katie and Tripp right in the middle of it all...
Bouquet toss...
Garter toss...
The Chi Omega song...
The Sigma Chi song {which no one knows the words to!}...
Back to the party...
The sparkler send-off...As you can see from the dance floor shots, this was one fun reception! Katie & Tripp's friends and family danced the night away and it was truly one of the most enjoyable receptions I've been a part of. The bride and groom didn't want to leave at the end of the night, which means I did my job!

A big thank you to Katie & Tripp Hollowell for letting me be a part of your big day! It was absolutely fantastic. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas as husband and wife!

When I first met Katie she told me that she wanted the ceremony to be as long as possible because it was her favorite part. As I'm sure you can guess, this is the opposite of most brides! I thought it was such a wonderful thing that she was putting the emphasis on the ceremony uniting she and Tripp rather than the party {although the party was pretty amazing too!}

Because Katie loves the ceremony so much, I wanted to include several photos of the pre-ceremony and ceremony for you to enjoy!

A couple of getting ready images...

I love how everyone is fixing them both. So cute!

The bridesmaids each signed the bottom of Katie's beautiful shoes...

I love this little touch!

Katie and her father...

Such a sweet father daughter moment.

Katie and the flower girl...

I am crazy over the flower girl dress. It's a simple loose fitting, traditional gown that lets her be a comfortable little girl. No tulle, no glitz, just adorable.

The men...

Tripp's bestMEN were his dad and granddad. It brings tears to my eyes even now that he is so close with them that they were the ones he wanted by his side at the altar.

As with any fall wedding in Arkansas, the guys had to take a break from photos to look back through the window and keep up with the football game!

If only we had beat Auburn...

The guys were literally yelling every few minutes and I was worried they were going to interrupt the mass that was going on in the sanctuary!